iooo C H A P.20- Theatrunt ‘ Botanicum . Tr,bk ? • 
wherciiuTlmnTmorerare plants let forth then is in the Latine, and received from Siptr Contannl who hath 
a Garden ftored with the rareft plants that can bee gotten trom all part-) is as the laid Mm, faith generally 
knowne through all Gruciu reteining yet the old name, wherewith they not onely make hedges andfencesto 
their rounds but infome places whole Groves are tound ftored therewith : and is a fmall hedge fcufh rifinc up 
vvth many uprightltemmes, branched forth into many Fans, let full of fmall (harpe white thornes onallfides 
w^hout order, and at every thorne on the young and tender branches one tj etoilc pale greene leate upon a long 
f'-cteftalke, whole ends areround and dented in in the middle : the flowers fiard at the toppes divers fet toge¬ 
ther which are fafhioned like unto Broome flowers at lon e times, and plac.s, wholly yellow', and at others 
more reddifh or inclining to purple, of lofwecte a l'ent that with the winde it is felt .good way of ■ when the 
flowers are I alien there come up in their places fmall pods.comcimng within them toure or five fmall round 
feede like Vet-hes, leffer then thofe of Acacia altera : the roote is wooddyand brancheth forth in the ground, 
fending forth fuel ers whereby it is plentifully encrealed : the lubftarce of the wood is very hard heavy and 
• white, the heart or core whereof is blackilh and utterly without anyfcnt while it is greene, but dry fenteth 
^ tar ' - dfpaU/bits primus Diofcoridi, oderatus. The firft and fweete JJpalaikt/r of Dicfcendc,. 
AJthounhthis plant be not throughly deicribcd and fet forth as the former is with the leaves, flow ers and feede 
bein" but declared with the trunke oi body and with an arme and a few branches cut (hoitwith thorres thereon 
appearing c ec I thought it not inconvenient to let it forth as it is extant with (o much defer iption as is added un¬ 
to it that others mav underfland thereof and have thereby fome knowledge of it,to further them when they {hall • 
happen to meete w'ith it. The baike of the tree is of a blackifh afhcolour.of an aflringent and fomewbacbitier 
talfe and biting withall, which being taken off, the inner baike is of a faire purple colour, efpecially the inner- 
moft which is very thi,me, fine and full of fmall firings or tin cads, the fubfiance of the wood is fir me and heavy 
but liukcth not in water as Ebony doth, of a pale colour and bUckifh for tbe mod part m the middle, of a ftrong 
lent, fome iv hat quirke or fierce : Tlx re have beeneformerly divers woods fheu ed and taken to bee true AjjyaU. 
thus as bv fome the Li^msm Ubedtum and by l'ome the wilc'-e Olive.&c. but all have erred in then judgement, 
every one of them wanting the notes of the trueinlome part or other, and this onely comming neartft there- 
untQ in every thing. 
The Place. ' 
The firft groweth about SaUmanc i in Spume, as alfo about Mompelier and in H*rbonc of France : the fecond 
in old Caftilc in Spume the third at the footc of the Pyrenean hills towards Spume : the fourth in Candy in divers 
* places in Greece : the laft is not declared trom whence it came. 
The Time. 
They all flower fomewhat early in their naturail and warme countries, and give their fruit or feede in Sum¬ 
mer • but in thefe coulder climates thev will hardly enduie the firft colds of our Autumnc as my felfe have pro¬ 
ved who have had them fprunge from the feede that I fo' ed and have abiden onely the Summer Seaton. 
The Names. 
The Greekescallit Ajpalathus y and fo doe the Latinesalfo, y e t Pliny ft rom Diofcorides faithitwas 
a!to called Erjfifceptrum and of fome Sceptrum. The firft three forts Clufites doth acknowledge are none of them 
the true nAJpalarhm alter T) iofcoridii , yet becaufe faith hec others did call the firft to (and the others are liked 
unto ic) hecalieth it and them Afpalathm alter prim/a (ecundw & tertins. Bauhinm emituleth them all Gem ft a* 
fpartium fpinofitm as Lohcl doth,fet forth in his leones • but in his Obtervations he calleth it sAljpa/athus fecund* 
mionff/elienfiumy and Lugdunenfu Afpalathw primus MonfpeffuUntu but thould he ftcmdtu being the Primers 
fault; Angutlara tooke it robe Acacia, altera , and Tabermontanus calleth it ScorptUi minimus : the fourth is the 
Acacia altera oi’CMatthiolus, Lacuna, LoniceriM , Label, Lugdunenfis, Gefner and Camcrar.w ; but Hcnoriw Be tins 
in his fife Epiftle unto CInfix fheweth (as Fona alio from him doth,and as I fayd in the defeription) that in Candy 
and throughout all Gracia it is called Spalathos to this day, and therefore is confident to call it AJpalathus fecun- 
dus Thofccridss S as Guilandmu j in his Epiftles did before him, who was "Bellus his Tutour : but Bauhinus becaufe 
he would go with the greater although not the better number as it fhould feeme (for he quoterh the fame authors 
h infelfc that 1 doe here, both that call it ncacia and Afpaiathus ) calleth it Acacia trifolia:the laft onely Pona hath 
let forth in his Latinc and Italian defeription of Mount Baldns, who faith that the wood is pa e, and yet Bauhi- 
nut in fetcing it downe in his Pinax as ha' ing received a peece thereof from 7 0»^himfelfe faith thus of it )Ajpa» 
latbns corticeciticreo Itgno furptsreo making the wood to be purple w hen as nothing but the inner rinde is fo. Clu~ 
fins faith that the Spaniards call the firft EMia y the fecond Anlaga y and the third Hallada. 
The Vertues. 
Avicen faith that Afpaiathus is hot in the firft degree and dry in tbe end of the fecond, almoft to the third. Bio- 
Jeer ides faith it hath an heating qualitie with tome aftriftion, but Galen hb.ofmpl medicament, faith thus. Afpa- 
lathus is in tafte fharpe, together with fome aftrifhion alfo, the faculties therein being of unlike parts, c< wit 
fharpe whereby it is heatings d h rfh or fowrc, whereby it is cooling by both which it is drying, and thereby 
gooa againft putrefactions and Fluxes of all fort : a decoition thereof made in wine and gargled in the mouth is 
fingular good to heale the fovvle Vlccrs thereof, as alfo thofe in tbe nofe to beefnufted up or injeited, as alfo 
thofe Vlcers of the genitoryes or fecret parts, if they bee bathed tl erewith : tbe laid decoction ftajeth the flux 
of the belly and helpeththe fpittii g of blood, it helpeth alio thofe that cannot mal e water,and diflolveth windy 
fwellings. Pliny faith the lame, and further faith that it helpeththe chappes in the hands or other parts, and 
that the barke is effeituall againft the ftrangury, as alfo available to binds the belly, and the decodion thereof 
ftayeth bleedings. 
Ch a fi 
